I'll Keep You Safe
by Vain x Life Poetess
Summary: What is it that prompts good people to become monsters? Can you call someone who does horrible things to protect their loved ones a villain? Mary tells Bessie a story, unaware that many years from now, her descendants would repeat the same formula. Multiple crossover and tie-in with Rose Petals and Love will set you free.


**A/N: I recommend everyone reads this while hearing the song Come Little Children from the movie Hocus pocus (the full version) because it's just so hauntingly beautiful and if you don't have it on your Halloween playlist yet, you should and it fits this story perfectly.  
When I heard it I immediately thought of these four people and it moved on from there with the premise 'are villains really evil' or all they need is just love? So I hope you enjoy and please leave a review! This is also part of my "Sweet poison" series.**

* * *

 _ **"Come little children**_

 _ **I'll take all thee away  
**_  
 _ **into a land of enchantment**_

Mary sits near her little sister, sweet, innocent Elizabeth. She was once a princess like her, now she has nothing. She loves her, god forgive her but she loves her and she can't imagine that one day she will go away and betray her like the rest have betrayed her. Looking back, she should have heard Chapuys' warnings but how could she have known? Elizabeth was her sister and she was all alone in the world with nobody to protect her but her.

She took her sister and set her in her arms. There were sounds of thunder outside and Elizabeth was fearful that the bad people were going to come. Mary had to remind her that nothing bad would happen to her.

"But they are still fighting."

"Have I ever told you the story of the lioness and her sister cub?" Bess shook her head. "In the forest lived two mother lions and their cubs, the first one was the eldest so she had a cub first, then the youngest had hers. When the two mother lions went missing, the first lioness took care of raising her sister and she protected her from all the dangers that lived there in the forest."

"Like what?"

 _ **"Come little children  
**_  
 _ **the time's come to play  
**_  
 _ **here in my garden of shadows**_

Henry Tudor sat in the lap of his mother, the indomitable Margaret Beaufort who welcomed this rare display of affection from her only son, her darling boy. If he had died, she didn't know what she would do. She was against Henry Herbert taking him, the man had taken her brother-in-law's title of Earl of Pembroke and put her boy in harm's way when he fought the Earl of Warwick and his treacherous cousin, the Duke of Clarence. But her boy managed to escape and he made his way back to his mother and told her all about it. She laughed remembering the look on her husband's face when he finished his tale. "Your name saved you." She'd told him and he nodded, adding that it had been more than that and that the Earl of Warwick let him go.

Now said Earl was dead and there was no hope for the Lancastrians except with her son. He was the only hope they had to see their dynasty restored for he descended from the first Duke of Lancastser through her, through her great-grandfather who was his eldest son from his third marriage to Katherine Swynford. People said that the marriage was illegal because the two had been lovers and he fathered his children before they married, but did that matter? They married, didn't they? And if the past King Richard and his successor, Henry IV, said the marriage was legal then the marriage was legal and her son would one day grow up to be the next King.

She ran her fingers through his head. His hair was light brown like his father, Edmund Tudor but he had her eyes, dark brown and they were so full of questions. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright but she couldn't lie to her son, especially when she heard the news from the south. People were coming their way. And Edward wasn't going to be as kind as he was the first time when he forgave thousands of Lancastrians for their betrayal.

I wish I could give you the life you deserve. But soon, soon Henry you will have what you want. –She thought.

"Henry, you can do this. You just run and you don't look back, you understand me? You don't look back."

"But mother, won't they know I left you and follow me?" He asked. "You heard what the King Edward said, he will follow me to the ends of the earth. He WILL find me."

"He won't." Margaret said, quieting her son's fears with a story. "Have you heard about the mother dragon and her little dragon?"

Henry shook his head and Margaret began her tale. "Once there was a mother dragon and her little dragon and she loved him very much …"

 ** _"Follow sweet children  
_**  
 ** _I'll show thee the way  
_**  
 ** _through all the pain and the sorrows_**

John didn't push his new recruit away when he came into his quarters to hide from the terminators that were fighting his men outside. "Are they coming John? Are they here?" The frightened boy asked his commander. John didn't blame poor Kyle from hiding. He was once a child himself, although to be completely honest with himself, he hadn't been a child since he was three and his mother slapped him not once but twice across the face and told him to stop whining 'Leaders don't cry' and buckle up.

"It will be alright Kyle." He told the ten year old boy, putting him in his lap. "Have I told you the story of the father lion who became the cub and was protected by his cub who became a lion?" Kyle shook his head, scratching his head, clearly confused at the whole tale but John promised he'd understand at the end of the tale and began.

"There was once a lion who was tempted by a lioness, she transformed him into a cub and he went to sleep for many years until he woke up and found himself turned into a cub and he found his cub all grown up. He took him into a land of magic and enchantment and promised he'd protect him and he did for many years until they found evil things living in the woods …"

 _ **"Weep not poor children  
**_  
 _ **for life is this way  
**_  
 _ **Murdering beauty and passions**_

In the far future, when humanity has extinguished all of its resources and used space travel to travel to other planes, one colony flourished on a planet on a binary system. Their descendants, true to their ugly nature, exterminated all of the peoples living there, including the ancestors of the giants and expelled the remaining ones behind a Wall that they built to keep their species apart. Thousands of years passed and many forgot about their past and as civilizations arose and fell, one remained constant and it was the civilization that everyone fought to control that pushed one woman to her limits and made her do the worst of atrocities.

Cersei Lannister heard the commotion outside the throne room. The idiot Lancel promised he would keep her son safe but the only thing he seemed to be good for was fucking. Her youngest son sat next to her on a simple chair. If something, gods forbid, happened to Joffrey, then he would be King.

And what a king he'd be –her conscience told her. She pushed that voice away. She didn't want anyone to die. If she had the power, she would stop this right now.

You little fool, her mind told her again. Happiness is the one thing you can never have. She learned that a long time with Robert but her sons were the only things keeping her alive. If it wasn't for them, she would have thrown herself from the highest wall of the Red Keep a long time.

She touched her son's hand and started her tale, even if just to give him false hope. It was better than nothing.

The twelve year old boy listened attentively to his mother's tale.

"In the woods lived a mother lion and her cub and she loved him very much but there were other things living in the woods …"

 _ **"Hush now dear children  
**_  
 _ **it must be this way  
**_  
 _ **to weary of life**_ _ **and deceptions**_

"Like what?" The children asked their protectors, bewildered as to what dangers could lurk in the King's woods, in the King's forest, in the plain woods, and the desolate post-apocalyptic landscape of LA.

The adults answered at once, each one in their own way, with gravity in their voice.

"Like falcons and bulls …"

"Like stags and boars …"

"Like metal demons …"

"Like stags and wolves."

And the children looked at them with narrowed eyes. Only Kyle Reese understood the meaning behind his guardian's words and let him continue uninterrupted.

"She tried to protect him…" Cersei continued, squeezing her son's hand greater as the screams grew louder and she could hear the clank of metal outside her door.

They are coming. She remembered the vial of poison that Pycelle gave her. She would kill her son and then herself before she let Stannis and his red witch sacrifice him to his god.

"He tried to protect him but the father cub was unaware that his guardian was his son all grown up and when he asked him 'will I grow up to be like you?' the lion responded 'yes, you will my little cub because you already have' …"

"And then the mother dragon said to her son 'You will be strong and fierce, just like your father and one day everyone will kneel to you from the white roses whose roots you will rip before they strangle you in your sleep, to the little piglets in the North, and the unicorns in the far, far North and everyone will whisper your name for centuries to come …"

"And you will no longer have anyone to fear for your sister's sacrifice for you will have been well spent…" Mary said, kissing her sister's pale forehead. She had their father's coloring and his skin tone but her eyes were her mother's and she was sometimes afraid to look into those eyes because they reminded her so much of the concubine. But how can someone so pure be so evil? It was unthinkable, she hugged her sister closer and whispered in her ear she will always protect her and one of her hands went behind her where a dagger rested.

If the rebels broke into the palace she was ready to end her sister's life and hers before they did it for them. Her cousin Pole told her to be wary of her father and Chapuys said that if the worst came to pass, they would recognize her as their queen with Reginald as her consort. But Mary did not want to enter any forced marriage. She was going to be Queen, of that she was sure. But not like this. She wasn't going to betray her sister, or her father –regardless of what he'd done to her and her mother- for a throne.

 _'_ _I'd rather die'_ She told herself softly and Bess asked what she said and Mary said nothing and returned to her story, bringing her arm back around her little sister.

"All the foxes, the wolves and the bears in the North, all the snakes in the South …" Cersei went on, a tear falling from her eye as she looked up at the image of the Great Mother and wondered if this was payback for what she'd done with Jaime.

They say that the Gods were cruel. But that couldn't be when they had given her three beautiful children. Three beautiful children she was going to kill before they were stripped of their golden manes and burned to the ground like her house.

"The people from the East and wet, from the North and South will remember this fight and they will remember of the great sacrifice the once lion and cub made for his great son …" John's voice died down as the sounds of the Hunter Killers and Terminators got louder. He looked at Kyle and gave him a small, sad smile. "You will have everything with you in heaven, said the lion to his father cub and I will join you someday." His left hand went to his pants' left pocket, taking a vial and slowly brought it to his father's lips. "I won't let anyone hurt you Kyle…" Dad –he thought.

"A crown to rest on your head. " Cersei finished, taking the bottle Pycelle had given her to her son's lips and adding "I won't let anyone hurt you…"

The sounds of their boots grew louder. Mary felt Bess tremble and she got her down from her lap and to sit on the soft mattress next to her, with her hand going right behind her, ready to do what she had to do to keep both of them safe. "I promise Bess I won't let anyone hurt you" She said, crossing herself mentally and asking God to give her strength for what she was about to do.

Margaret let go of her son and watched from her window as he came out of the castle and ran to his uncle Jasper.

 _ **"Rest now my children  
**_  
 _ **for soon we will go away  
**_  
 _ **into the calm and the quiet**_

None of them thought that they would see each other again. Their eyes bore deep into theirs, except for Margaret whose son was already miles and miles away from her.

Why had they of all people had to bear this pain? Didn't they play by the rules –Gods and men? What did they do that was so bad that fate saw it fit to punish them?

I can't end like this –they all thought and steeled themselves mentally for what was about to come. If this was the end, then they were going to meet it with their heads held up high for they were not nobody. They were warriors, queens, princesses, ladies and saviors and where many would have cowered or ran away from their fates, they fought hard on.

The doors to their chambers opened, bringing the three of them to their feet, looking in shock at the messengers.

"My lady." Chapuys said, ignoring the pain in his leg as he knelt before her, smiling widely. "The King has repelled the rebels and hung most of the leaders. He's won."

Mary sobbed and cried of happiness and took her sister in her arms and kissed her all over the face. Her father had won! He'd won!

"The Battle is over. We have won!" Tywin Lanniser, Warden of the West and Lord of Casterly Rock cried taking off his helmet.

Cersei dropped the venom from her hands at the sight of Loras Tyrell and her father and with her twelve year old son, greeted her father with the greatest smile that the kingdom had ever seen on their Queen.

It was over! It was finally over. She kissed her son's cheek who smiled at his mother, equally happy that the nightmare was over.

John rose to his feet, nearly throwing Kyle who luckily stepped from his guardian and commander's lap on time, and looked to his fourth in command, Lieutenant Blair Williams in bewilderment, keeping his tone harsh and direct. "Report!"

"It is over Sir. The battle has been won." She said.

John laughed and hugged the little boy. They'd won! They'd won! Goodness gracious they had kicked Sky Net right where it hurt! They were getting closer to victory which meant that his father's destiny could be avoided.

 _ **"Come little children  
**_  
 _ **I'll take thee away  
**_  
 _ **into a land of enchantment  
**_  
 _ **come little children  
**_  
 _ **the time's come to play  
**_  
 _ **here in my garden of shadows"**_

Unknown to all the joyous parties, their victory came at a price and as their oracles predicted, they would live to see all of their loved ones die, having no one to grieve for them long after they were gone.

Henry would be devoted to his mother until death do them part, but his devotion would only go so far. He would become besotted with his wife, and listen to her advice more and more. And while people spoke how it was his mother who controlled him, it was his wife who guided him and that was something that Margaret did resent, but had to accept. And she had to watch it all, her daughter in law –dead before her time, her grandson and baby granddaughter –dead too. And finally, the son for whom she sacrificed everything –dead as well. And her grandson, a boy she believed was the second coming of Arthur, as the people of Wales once believed their father was, would make their dynasty the most feared.

And her granddaughter, Mary Tudor would become the first Queen of England. She would not listen to the other's advice regarding her sister Bess. The weight of her country would always rest on her shoulders, and add that the weight her mother placed on her of their faith before she died, and so many people of that faith looking up to her, and those of the other faith looking to her to fail; it is no wonder why she grew tired of playing the role of the good leader, of the woman who always obeyed, who always protected and instead she changed the rules of the game and when she finally decided to act against her sister, she found that she could not. Because her sister was too powerful. And Bess, dear Bess got to live Mary's dream of becoming the greatest monarch in English history.

As for the leader of the Resistance, the great prophet, the messiah … he would win … but just like fate was unkind to the others, it would be unkind to him as well and transform him into the monster that would hunt down his parents and his siblings until there was nothing left but him and his vision of a 'perfect world'.

And that is all that mattered to these people … their vision of a perfect world for their loved ones … If they could have had it any other way … they would … but fate placed on them a huge burden, and like any dutiful soldier, they would carry it out.

Cersei's last days would be looking up at her son, who saw her with hateful eyes. He would die before her eyes and she would die at his father's hands. All this time the Valonquar being not Tyrion but her twin brother, the man she had given herself to, her dearest Jaime.

Before their deaths, the last thing they see is that moment when they comforted their loved ones, and themselves as children when they believed they could do anything, when they believed that nothing their parents told them was true, when they believed that life was fair and that only life existed … but as they grew up and experienced loss and betrayal by those they'd given their lives to, they realized that this was how life was … full of lies and deception with murder and destruction into the mix …

 **They rebelled against fate, they played their cards, rolled the dice and they lost.** And the most ironic part of this story is that they were all of the same bloodline.

John had been the only one to rise from the dead, and still be among the living. The Quantum field destroyed him, but it was not enough to destroy all of the nanites. When those landed on the pool of pollyalloy, they reassembled themselves and he emerged like a newborn baby, screaming oaths of fury at his mother's relic, but most of all at Kyle –the man he's raised and the man who had sired him in another life.

How dare he refuse him? He would get revenge on him. And it would be terrible.

As the years passed and he found his parents at the dinner table with the twins. He smiled. He shot his mother first, then terminated her relic, and finally when he found his father blocking him from his siblings, ended their father. The twins looked at him defiantly … It would have been easy if he ended them right there … Westeros would have been spared a lot of pain ... but he didn't … instead he raised them, watched over them and their descendants and even fell for one of them …

But when he saw what they'd done, he didn't turn his back on them, watching instead how they butchered each other.

Margaret, Mary, Cersei and him had ruin their lives. They made their choices; but it wasn't too late for their last descendant so John made a decision and took the hand of Myrcella Baratheon, and offered her what he and the others never had: a choice… and she took it.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed it. You noticed that I changed some of the events of October of 1536. Instead of having the Pilgrimage of Grace in the North, I made it into a bigger movement where they nearly reached the capital. I didn't like Game of Thrones' decision to cut Myrcella off the show with that lame death so I stuck with the books on this one and had just her ear removed. Leave a review!  
**


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